


pain(t)

by tylersmigraines



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Art, Boy x boy, Cute, Fluff, Gay, LGBT, M/M, Tysh, joshler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-11 14:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7056415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tylersmigraines/pseuds/tylersmigraines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>josh is an awkward kid that paints in his spare time and tyler becomes his art partner</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. moving

starting a new school is never fun.  
never has been and never will be.  
it's like you're leaving behind the only faces you are familiar with in your life. as a teenager your life revolves around school, whether you want to admit it or not. your weekends dictated by whether or not you have homework or if you need to cram for that exam you have on monday. so for me, taking away that all familiar routine and replacing it with a new one is not fun.

my family recently moved into ohio and to be honest, it's not the worst place I've been. i did expect it to be all fields and cows but it's actually not like that at all. columbus is quite pretty, it has lots of trees and a really pretty forest nearby. maybe i'll go and paint some of the trees down there.

oh, did i mention that im an artist.  
well, an artist is the title that i give myself.  
im not the best at it but I've been doing it for years and recently ive started to make a little bit if money from it. y'know, selling commissioned art online and stuff. nothing fancy.  
its very therapeutic, art.  
it seems to take all of the stress of life away. somehow, creating something from nothing is very satisfying to me and im yet to find somebody who feels the same about art. somebody that appreciates the true beauty of creation.  
to me it is magical.

im extremely nervous about starting school because people back at home didn't treat me very nicely. they seemed to forget that i existed and i didn't appreciate it. maybe it was because im quiet and prefer to keep myself to myself? who knows. i don't really like myself too much, but i can't pinpoint exactly what it was that they didn't like about me. like, i was nice to them. you've got to be plain stupid to judge somebody based on their physical appearance because it's what's on the inside that counts. gosh i sound like my mother. it's true though.

 

 

after the somewhat uncomfortable train of thought had been broken, i leaped up from my bed and stared myself up and down in the mirror. my unkempt pink hair was sticking up in all directions, just the way i liked it. my tight fitting jeans were stained with small patches of watercolour paint, luckily you couldn't see it through the thick black fabric. per usual, i was wearing a diy muscle tee that i made about 2 years ago when i thought that i had muscles to show off. now my wardrobe was filled with them and it was either that or a pink button up, which didn't fit that days aesthetic.

saturdays were usually pretty chill so i decided to go and check out the record store down. it was the only shop in the small town that really stood out to me when i first drove past in the car.  
it had a cozy looking interior with a bright neon sign outside, like something that could be seen on my tumblr dash.

after saying goodbye to my mom, i left the house, closing the door softly behind me. as soon as i exited the house i felt the chilled air hit my face and i smiled at the sensation. as much as i enjoyed bein inside, alone with netflix and some pizza, i equally enjoyed the outside world and all of the mysteries it kept concealed.  
i loved the way that you could live in a town tour whole life but you could discover something new about it every day.

especially as columbus was new to me, i could find some interesting things or interesting people to paint.

before i knew it, the small record shop was in sight.  
the windows were ever so slightly steamed up due to the presumable warmth inside and i smiled to myself as the heat wrapped around my slender body upon entering.

my eyes darted instantly to the alternative section of the store as i spotted a few fall out boy albums. i couldn't help but smile as i eyed a petite looking boy holding a panic!at the disco cd. he looked at ease and he flicked through the seemingly endless shelf of tasteful music, whilst clutching onto that same panic! cd.

"a fever you can't sweat out ey?", I smiled.  
the boy shakily turned his head to face me and then sighed as his eyes met mine.

"yeah, you caught me", he raised his hands above his head.

"no dude, panic! are sick", i reassured him, the same attempt at a friendly smile crossing my face.

the boy hummed in contempt and continued to scan through the selection of disks before him.

after a few moments of silence he spoke again,  
"im tyler by the way".

"josh"

tyler's voice was unique, in a good way. a very good way in fact. it was high pitched but croaky at the same time, and quite frankly i'd never heard something so appealing to listen to.

"why are you talking to me?" he mumbled.

my eyes widened at the seemingly younger boy's remark  
"oh i-i mean if y-you don't want me t-"

"no dude it's cool, just not normal for people to want to talk to me"

i didn't really know how to reply.  
how do you reply to something like that?  
'oh I'm sorry that nobody talks to you'  
that sounds weird. so i decided not to touch on the topic.

"me neither", i responded, "so do y-"

"it was nice to meet you by the way",  
he grinned, placing down the album that he previously held.

"oh um yeah nice to meet you too"

and before i was fully aware of the attractive man that was stood before me, he was gone. like some kind of mystery that i was desperate to solve.

 

that night i lay in bed, thinking the same thoughts i did this morning. about life. about school. about art. but something was different. i thought about that small doe eyed boy from the music store. how beautiful he was. how kind he was. how addictive he was.

i brushed off the thoughts as a small crush and went to sleep.  
despite my desperation not to let it happen, thoughts of him slipped into my dreams. I wanted to see more of him.


	2. abstract

after my short encounter with tyler the weekend was pretty boring.  
my mum decided to force me out of the house to go and look around the town. nothing in particular caught my eye except from the 'newport music hall'.  
the outside walls of the large building were plastered with brightly colored flyers that were advertising numerous different bands.  
some of them i recognized, some i did not.  
then came today.  
i didn't have much hope for my first day at school as i wasn't really the kind of guy that people wanted to be friends with.  
i decided that id just keep my head down and hopefully id make some friends without making an effort.

//

the front of the school was seemed to tower above my head like some kind of skyscraper. my stomach began to churn as i watched groups of students congregating around the entrance. all i wanted was the confidence to go and talk to them, but the deep set worry that they wouldn't accept me, stopped me from edging any closer. all of a sudden, the bell rang and my heart jumped at the thought of having to introduce myself to people.  
oh how i hated introducing myself to people.

//

when i arrived in my homeroom, a small girl named emma came over to me and talked me through the timetable. she told me that we had art first and that eased my nerves a little bit. art was my favorite subject so naturally i seemed to do well in it. sadly because i had joined the school half way through the year, i wasn't caught up with the work and id probably fall behind.

we walked together to the lesson.

once i arrived, i saw tyler hunched over in the corner of the room. he looked as if he was painting something and the curiosity bubbling in my stomach was starting to become painful. his tongue was hanging ever so slightly out of his mouth in concentration as he placed gentle brush strokes onto the piece of paper before him.

instead of doing the logical thing and going to sit with the faces i found familiar, i sat by myself, in the corner. after diverting my attention from the beautiful boy in the corner, i realized how pretty the classroom was. the classrooms i was used to were all grey and boring with the occasional dash of comic sans lining the walls, a sickly mismatch of colors. however, this classroom was different. vibrant, but in a good way. art work done by a whole range of students was collaged all over the walls and paper mache sculptures were hung gracefully from the ceiling. it was truly an interesting scene. but i liked it.

the teacher was leaned over her desk with her ass in the air. not gonna lie, if i wasn't a flaming homosexual, i would probably have a boner right now. she had vibrant blue hair which was cut just above her shoulders, very different to any of the other teachers.

"okay kiddos so were starting a new project today", she said as she spun on her heels and slammed her hands down on the table in front of her, startling a few students, "you can partner up with whoever you want for this one, but its probably best if you know each other and what not".

at that, my eyes began to drift over to tyler's hunched form in the opposite corner. if i didn't go and talk to him, would i ever? fuck it.

"hey", i whispered in an attempt to let him know i was there, "could we maybe partner up?"

his head instantaneously flipped round to look at me in the face. a look of confusion graced his face for a few brief moments but fortunately softened into a grin, "josh!", he giggled a little bit too excitedly. at that, i pulled out the chair beside tyler and plopped myself onto it. "i didn't know anybody else in the class so i guessed that i'd sit with you", i spoke apologetically.

"don't be sorry! i needed a partner anyway so..", his voice was exactly as i remembered it, slightly croaky yet angelic.

"has everybody got a partner?", the teacher scanned her eyes over the room and nodded to herself, "okay, so we're going to be painting portraits of each other". a smaller looking girl in the corner promptly raised her hand, "we did that last term though miss".

"indeed we did young one", she chuckled, "but this time we're going to be painting abstract portraits of each other. you need to accentuate or diminish certain aspects of the persons face or body depending on how you perceive them as a person. you can also change elements of them to match their personality. and pete, try not to be too harsh on poor patrick", a audible sigh came from somewhere in the middle of the room, which i assumed was from pete. "for this, you'll have two lessons and time at home to complete it, the only rule is that the other person is not allowed to see how you've changed them".

my heart began to race as countless ideas flowed through my brain of the many ways i could paint tyler. so many things about him physically stood out to me, but the few elements of his personality that i had discovered presented a darker, more solemn side to him. and i loved it.

"this is difficult", the seemingly younger boy spoke hesitantly, "i mean, the only things i know about you are that you like the same music as me and you're new here, neither of which are too helpful".

"get to know me then", a sudden burst of confidence filled my veins as i spoke and i blushed as the expression on his face twisted from bewilderment to genuine interest.

"okay then jishwa, twenty questions".

"bring it on".


	3. tears

i gazed at him nervously as he pondered upon what to ask me. tylers cute little face was scrunched up, his thick eyebrows knotted in the middle of his forehead. he looked truly adorable.

"okay, um, whats your favorite film?"

there were many films that i'd seen over the years that sprung to mind, none of which i could pin point as my favorite though.

"fight club is a really good film", i spoke anxiously.

the younger boy chuckled, a sweet grin gracing his features, "okay your turn", he laughed as he pulled his legs onto his chair.

"favorite band?"

"fall out boy", he replied. damn this guy really did have a good taste in music.

"are you single?", he breathed tentatively.

"am i single?", i laughed, "of course i am".

"just asking.."

tyler was looking down at his hands attentively, nervously scratching the back of his hands. i could tell that he wanted to say something, but he was struggling to find the right words as his mouth opened and closed like some sort of fish. 

i waited through about 30 seconds of dead air before deciding to break the deafening silence by asking another question.

"do you play any sports?"

from the very moment the word 'sports' left my lips, i saw his face drop. the sweet smile that was beginning to reappear onto his face had completely dissolved into thin air.

"y-yeah i uh play basketball", tyler choked.

why was he so anxious about basketball? plenty of people played basketball.

"are you okay?", i asked as i placed my hand comfortingly on his forearm.

"absolutely fine", he shakily rose to his feet, "i'll be back in just a second".

my heart began to race at the immediate thought that i'd upset or triggered him somehow. why was he so touchy about the subject of sports?

 

tyler reappeared through the classroom door a few minutes later. he looked extremely flustered and worried as he took his seat once again. "im so sorry about that, i- i just", tears began to fill his wide eyes and i pulled him into a tight hug, shielding him from the unforgiving gaze of other students and attempting to comfort him from whatever he was so upset about, "some things in my life im not too happy about and you know josh, sometimes it all gets too much you know?".

i rubbed my fingers gently up and down his back as i told him how sometimes i felt the same, how everybody felt like life got a little bit too overwhelming sometimes. truly, i felt exactly the same. certain aspects of life just jumped out of perspective sometimes, but i was sure that he had very different problems to me.

"t-thanks josh", he stuttered, the tears on his cheeks drying uncomfortabley.

once we pulled away from the hug, i took a small amount of time to admire him as he began to sketch the outline of my face onto a 50 x 40 cm canvas. the way his fluffy brown hair fell gracefully onto his tanned face made butterflies appear in my stomach. his deep hazel eyes were something of pure beauty, small tears remained in the corners and they made his eyes sparkle in the sunlight that was peering through the shuttered blinds. 

tyler was truly something else.

"im sorry josh", tyler spoke, not taking his eyes off of the rather impressive sketch before him.

"what for?"

"for crying"

those words hurt me just as much as i could see that they hurt him. "tyler oh my, you don't need to apologize for anything. you never need to apologize for crying, its not your fault. its natural".

"y-yeah but if my friends saw me crying, they'd probably hate me".

"dude, if they ever hurt you i'll kill em'", i laughed jokingly, suddenly realizing that it wasn't purely appropriate.

"b-but my f-friends are different, they hurt people, i hate them but they're all i have", he visibly shrunk into his seat as the words escaped his mouth, "lets just say that if they knew who i really was, they wouldn't like me too much".

"if you ever have any trouble with them then you can always come and talk to me, im not gonna judge you for anything".

"thanks josh".

 

as the lesson passed by, i'd managed to keep a steady conversation with tyler whilst simultaneously avoiding the subject of his 'friends'. turns out that me and tyler have more in common than i first anticipated. he loves art and music, as well as singing and playing ukulele. which i think is very adorable. we both absolutely adore taco bell and i told him that one day we could watch a movie and eat tacos, he agreed thank god.

tyler is a very sweet guy, but from what i could gather from that hour, extremely misunderstood.

and i couldn't wait to get started with painting him.

**Author's Note:**

> im actually so so so excited to be writing this story because i really like the idea of them painting together. idk what it is but its cute af.


End file.
